Green and black were their colours.
Black for the royal family.
Green for the magic.
Green thunder and green fire made Malleus different from others of his kind. Lilia made him learn and then took the duty of remembering him.
Learning with subtle hints of manipulation
The natural colour of thunder was white, even yellow to some. Their kind was green.
The natural colours of fire were blue, red, orange and yellow. Never green.
But they were the people of the night.
The fair folk who lured in the darkness.
Malleus had never liked crowded places.
His ears were sensitive and more developed than those of other creatures. Voices, murmurs, laughs, broken whispers. Malleus could hear everything as if he was surrounded by buzzing insects. It was fine every once in a while, but after some time, it would get tiresome.
In a lonely place, he was raised and his companionship wasn't very diverse.
The college was a new environment for Malleus. Sure, he knew how things worked, as he had studied it previously: classes, different rooms, libraries, classmates, sports and all of that. Malleus already knew most of the learning content, for he was old and had a lot of free time. He passed all of his classes with success, the praise of his professors and the admiration (and envy) of his classmates.
The reason for his presence in that school was another.
It got to do with people, mostly, but other things too.
Servants were not the best friends to keep around. They could be, but there is something odd in being friends with people who are supposed to serve you.
Lilia wanted something of Malleus.
Equality.
To be able to form bonds with people. People outside of his inner group. To freely form them.
It was easier said than done.
When most people fear or envy you, it's not easy to get along with them. To be accepted. Malleus had gotten accustomed to loneliness: when you live for too long, it's just normal to accept things as they come.
He did what he could.
Even if people didn't invite him to reunions. Or forgot about it.
All of them, together, using special clothes, sharing words and rituals. And making anecdotes out of it. Making companionship and acquaintances out of the people reunited there. Creating a sense of belonging to something greater than them. Feeling the affection and the warmth of others. Sharing private jokes.
It was not as if he cared at all.
Malleus wasn't jealous. He wasn't jealous every time his servants were invited to hang out with their classmates or went into parties and celebrations inside that enormous school. Every time his servants got to live the lives of normal people.
Not all.
He could do very well on his own.
Sure.
He didn't mind being alone at all.
He didn't miss people around him.
He didn't need the spontaneity that comes among comrades.
He could be alone rather well.
Malleus had always been alone.
Loneliness helps you clear your thoughts. You can breathe, let your body be relaxed and do things you normally couldn't with others, right?
Independent people could live with loneliness perfectly well. Loneliness was another life partner. Not something forlorn as Lilia would sometimes point out to him.
As the future monarch of the Valley of Thorns, genuine social companionship wasn't going to be part of his life. Malleus was a descendant of the King of the Night. His destiny was that of a ruler and he was prepared with that role in mind.
Night, magic, the Ancient Lore and the Mysteries. Ruling and administering a state. A path with loneliness.
But Malleus liked his loneliness. The one that was his. Not the one that came with duties.
Loneliness helped him achieve certain freedom after too many times.
Out of the dorm that reminded Malleus too much of his homeland. It's not that he minded the place he was raised at, modelled after the home of the Witch of Thorns, it's just that there was something very tempting in running out of his dorm at night, when most students were asleep, surreptitiously crossing the magical crystal of the mirror and strolling around the corridors of the campus when the halls are empty.
There was freedom in being outside.
The empty roads. Grass and trees. The big stadium and the creepy surrounding hills around the college.
And that abandoned dormitory.
Malleus could let himself pace at peace, being drawn by the wind and the sounds of the night.
The first thing that attracted his attention was the gargoyles hanging from the walls. Creatures of stone with ferocious expressions that keep the rainwater from damaging the building. He could tell the room was abandoned by people, outside of ghosts. Not that he minded them, ghosts pretty much did their own thing.
He started to hang out around the building at night. When curiosity got the best of him, Malleus entered the abandoned place. It was dirty, decadent and some parts were crumbling. It was sad.
Malleus liked it the moment he entered it.
It was lonely. He would hang around the rooms, rooms that smell of ashes, rotten woods and old furniture. The ghosts left him alone to do his own devices.
Soon, the dormitory became one of his safe spaces.
A place where Malleus could be left alone with his thoughts and reflections.
Out of the reach of students and their voices. Their quarrels and vulgar jokes.
Silver and Sebek soon started to notice his outings. They were his bodyguards, after all. And Lilia.
Malleus learned that it was better to keep some things to himself. His guardian was good, but…
Lonely time was important, right?
Freedom was important, right?
He was powerful and everybody knew it. He knew it. Lilia had taught him about being humble without letting it weigh on his self-esteem.
But, if he was good, then Malleus didn't exactly need to have people guarding him at all times, right?
And, let's face it: he could appear and disappear as he willed. The majority of the time, bodyguards were a formality; especially inside that special college, where routine dictated the lives of students.
Oh, yeah…
Ramshackle Dormitory was the place where Malleus could be left alone on his own.
He got fond of that place. Not that it was the only place he liked to visit, diversity is good for refreshing the mind. The limits of the campus were good, same with abandoned storages and rooms. Wandering on his own was his hobby, the more deserted the places, the better.
And so, one night he was hanging out on his own, floating, minding his business outside of Ramshackle when he heard steps.
That night was cold and deep. Few people would be out there so late, so far from the main building.
And the strangest thing of it all was that the soft noises came from the building.
It couldn't be the headmaster nor the professors. And the ghosts rarely left the dorm. Let alone walk out of it. Did the octavinelle brats that feel bold that night? Could they be troublemakers from Savanaclaw? He could deal with them, but it would be annoying.
A nostalgic feeling made a place for itself in his body.
What if…?
Who could be out there?
''I wonder if I'll ever get home''
A soft voice, like the murmur of a weak wind.
He made his presence known. Malleus went off of the bushes and confronted the visitor. He was on guard.
A boy with messy hair and a coat was standing close to the gates.
''An intruder?!''
The boy was surprised. His factions were crisped and his body tense.
''Well, now this is a surprise. You are a Child of Man''
A normal teenage boy with a thin complexion. Not a Beastman nor a merman. No fairy, no ghost, no supernatural creature.
His stature was rather small, but then, Malleus was taller than a lot of people.
The boy was harmless. That was for sure.
''Do you live here? This building has been abandoned for a long while.
I'd been quite fond of it as a place I could be quietly left alone''
The disappointment he felt slipped by his mouth. It was a nice place to be. Now someone else lives there.
The boy looked at him with a poker face. For a brief moment, there was an odd shine in his eyes, but it was covered.
''Who are you?''
There was a subtle warning there. Malleus could care less. What surprised him was entirely another thing.
''Who am… You don't know who I am?''
Now, now. That was interesting. There was something about this boy…
Malleus felt amused. He started to talk to himself. It wasn't easy to surprise him.
''Mmhh. Is that so? That is… exceedingly rare''.
He looked at the boy.
''What should I call you?''
''I'm the prefect of this dorm, Yuu''
''Yuu? That's an unusual name. I'm…''
But Malleus stopped his words. He could be sly when he wanted to, too.
''Actually, no I'm not going to tell you. Not knowing is for your benefit''
His sense of humour had always been weird. Malleus always supposed one of the reasons Lilia wanted him to attend that school was to correct that.
But he couldn't keep it. The kid was disoriented. There was something pure and honest in his expressions.
And there were other things, too.
''The moment you hear it you'll feel a frost spread over your skin. For your ignorance, as an exception, I'll allow you to call me whatever you like''
Malleus was genuinely amused.
''Though, you may come to regret that someday...''
Contact between humanity and fae wasn't the easiest thing. And it wasn't hard to tell the kid would stand out like a sore thumb...
''Mph… nevertheless…''
An annoying realization made a place for itself in his head.
''But if people are living here it means this abandoned building is no longer abandoned. That's too bad''
Such a shame. Malleus always liked that place. But it was obvious, for the boy's expression, his presence there wasn't expected.
And, for Malleus, his lonely time was important.
''I have to find another abandoned place for my nightly strolls. Well then, I bid you adieu''
And so, he left a dumbfounded teenager looking at him in awe.
For this chapter, I used Shel_BB's translation of 2.14 part of the story in order to reproduce the first conversation between Malleus and Yuu.
Updates will be slow as I'm entering the worse part of my college courses, however, I really want to work on his story. I've always wanted to make a plot inspired by Norse mythology and I already have an idea about where I want to go with this fic.